Commercial lending

The struggling movie-theater chain is among once-risky debt investments reaping big gains after day traders helped fuel the sudden stock surge.

Cheap funding costs have extended a lifeline to many troubled companies, slowing the pace of U.S. bankruptcy filings, but shops, offices and hotels have been particularly vulnerable to the pandemic this month.

About $16 billion across 43 deals in both new-issue and refinancing has prompted analysts into making early revisions to raise their initial volume forecasts.

The online lender is looking to price its second securitization deal of 2021, following last week's closing of a pass-through notes offering via its master trust.

Declining month-over-month delinquency levels and the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations potentially give hope to more normalized economic activity.

The two deals will add to the pipeline of 2021 prime auto-lease transactions led earlier this month by Hyundai Capital America.

More may be on the horizon as lenders lose patience with defaulting property owners.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Jan.7-14

A slower-than-expected rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines and the threat of social unrest after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol could threaten the recovery, according to an American Bankers Association panel.

Commercial real estate portfolios have held up better than expected during the pandemic. But rising delinquencies and fears of a delayed economic recovery are renewing questions about credit quality.

The notes offering is the largest among the 21 auto-lease deals HCA has issued since 2011, and the fourth that has topped $1 billion in offered notes.

Distressed debt funds on average gained 11.4%, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc., compared to the riskiest corporate bonds rising 2.3%.

Energy, retail and consumer services companies led a total of 244 filings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Reports indicate distressed owners would rather surrender their hotel or retail properties instead of negotiate workouts on delinquent loans as the pandemic spread carries on.

Bausch, formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals, has paid down more than $24 billion of the $32 billion in leverage it owed five years ago from a debt-driven acquisition spree — which ended after a drug-pricing scandal.

The agency cited improving used-car prices that have elevated resale values of off-lease vehicles that drivers are turning back into dealerships.

The buyout industry has about $3 trillion of unrealized value on its books, according to Preqin. And it’s tapping that to land loans for bolt-on deals, to refinance debt or bail out struggling companies in their portfolios.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of Dec. 18-23

The legislation would let banks postpone the start date of the Current Expected Credit Losses accounting standard and delay categorizing pandemic-related loan modifications as troubled debt restructurings.

Bankruptcies reached levels not seen in a decade, distressed debt soared to almost $1 trillion and it may take years to repair the damage to airlines, restaurants and hotels. While 2020 may be over, the drama probably isn’t.